Rigid-bottom collapsible last



A. F. LITTLEFIELD. RIGID BOTTOM QOLLAPSIBLE LA'ST.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 16, I919.

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A. F. LITTLEFIELD.

RIGID BOTTOM CAOLLAPSIBLE LAST. APPLICATION FILED APR. re, 1919.

1,359,6 l 0., Patenped Nov. 23, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- I L I p Fig. 10 Fig.1]

UNITED STATES egrsur OFFICE.

AUGUSTINE FRANK LITTLEFIELD, 01E LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNiTEDSHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATEIRSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OFNEW JERSEY.

RIGID-BOTTOM COLLAPSIBLE- LAST.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV. 23, 1920.

Application filed April 16, 1919. Serial No. 290,441.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUs'rINE F. LITTLE- FIELD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Rigid-BottomCollapsible Lasts, of which the following description, in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like referencecharacters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

In some methods or lines of boot and shoemaking, it is desirable toemploy lasts which are permanently rigid against flexure or verticalbending moments. It a block last is employed and the shoe upper isconformed closely thereto, removal of the last without injury to theshoe is laborious and diflicult and sometimes practically impossible.Hence, it is common to use so-called collapsible or hinged lasts, theheel portions of which can be moved to give sufiicient relief to permitready withdrawal of the last from the shoe, thus losing the advantage ofpermanent rigidity.

A particular object of the present invention is to provide a last which,for all classes of work. will always be rigid against vertical bending,and preferably present a rigid or inflexible sole surface portion fromtoe to heel, but which is capable of being collapsed at the heel topermit ready withdrawal from the shoe. In attaining the object I providethe last with a laterally collapsible heel portion the sole surface ofwhich is rigid against fiexure or vertical bending moments. V v

I have illustrated two embodiments of my invention in eachof whichthelast, although havingan inflexible sole surface from end to end, maystill be termed a collapsible or hinged last. The hinged structure,however, is such, in each case, that instead of flexing the entire heelpart on an axis transverse to the last soas to shorten the last as awhole as is common with hinged lasts in general, the lateral thicknessor width of the last at the heel may be reduced to allow the heel of theshoe to lengthen a little by virtue of not being filled laterally. 7

These and other features of the invention comprising certaincombinations and arrangements of parts will be understood from thefollowing description of two preferred embodiments thereof selected forpurposes at represents a section on line 4--it of *ig. 5 is an elevationof the inside of one of the wings or collapsible side members of. theheel end of the last. i

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the wedge member which normally holdsthe pivoted winged members in relative positions for use while buildingthe shoe.

Figs. 7 to 13 illustrate another embodiment of the invention.

Figs. 7 and 8 are, respectively, a side elevation and plan view, aportion being broken out and in section in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the forepart of the last from which theheel part has been removed.

Fig. 10 represents a section on line 1010 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 10 but showing the parts indifferent relative positions, the plane of section through each of thetwo heel parts being thesame as in Fig. 10, although one part in Fig. 11has been swung up to substantially the dotted line position of'Fig. 7.

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the rigid heel section of the last.

Fig. 13 is a perspective View of a tool or implement which may beemployed for unlocking the two heel sections of the last so that one maybe swung as hereinafter described.

Referring first to Figs. 1- to 6 inclusive, the forepartis indicated 21112, said forepart being, of course, preferably of wood as usual. Aheel block 13 preferably of metal has a socket piece 14 fitting a recessin the forepartl2 and secured therein as by transverse pins 15. Thesocket piece 14 is recessed to receive the shank 16 of a wedgeshapedmember 17. the spring 18 within the socket piece 14 exerting a normaltendency to press or slide the wedge 17 rearwardly to the po ition shownin Fig. 2.

T he heel block 13 is formed with a recess 19 as indicated by dottedlines in Figs. 1

and 2 into which the wider end of the wedge 17 moves when pushed backagainst the pressure of spring 18.. The block 13 is also formed withlugs 20 (Figs. 1 and 4). Two

1 5 wings which form the side sections of the heel portion of the lastare'indicated at 21, each of said wings being cut away as at 22 (Fig. 5)to receive a lug of the block 13. By means of pintles 23 extendingvertically V 10 through the wings 21 and through the lugs 20, the saidwings are so pivotally mounted that they can shift toward each otherwhen the wedge member 17 is pushed forward toward the toeof the last.Outward or 5 spreading movement of the wings 21 is limited by shoulders24 (Fig. 2) adapted to abut against rear portions of the block 13.

The inner face of each wing 21 is formed with a horizontal groove 25terminating at ggits inner end in a short vertical groove 26. Mounted toreciprocatein a verticalhole 27, which may be the' jack pin hole, in thewedge member 17 is a short slide 28 having a transverse pin 29, saidslide being normally 25 held up by a spring 30.

When the parts are in the relative positions indicated in Figs. 1 and 2,the last is capable of being employed for the usual .or ordinary shoeoperations, saidlast pre- 30 senting in its normal condition arigid'sole portion from end to end. When it is desired to remove thelast from the completed shoe, a suitable tool or implement or'jack pinis inserted in the hole 27 and pressure exerted upon the slide 28 tocarry the pin 29 down from the short vertical grooves 26 7 into linewith the horizontal grooves25. This permits the wedge 17 which carriesthe pin 29 to be pushed toward the toe of the last against the pressureof spring'lti, such forward movement of the wedge member being effectedby lateral pressure exerted against the tool which has been inserted inthe hole 27, or by any other suitable means. As soon as the wedgememberhas beenslid forward the wings 21 are free to collapse; towardeach other as indicated by dotted lines inFig. 2, thereby allowing thesides of the heel portion ofthe shoe to collapse enough to permitsufiicient elongation or lengthening of the heel portion of the shoe toenable the lastto' be removed.

{Referring to Figs. 7 to 13 inclusive, the forepart 40 of the last isprovided with a recess 41 (Fig. 9) which receives the web 42 of therigid heel section 43, the connection being rendered permanent and ri idby means of transverse pins 44. The rigid heel section 43 is preferablyof metal and may be a casting. As best illustrated in Fig; 12, it isformed on its inner face with a recess 45 having an undercut portion 46to serveas a keeper for the locking pin hereinafter de- 4 scribed. Thesection 43 is also formed with a r1b47 having an inclined face to forman abutment for the inclined front face of the heel section 48 pivotallyconnected to the dotted lines in Fig. 10. The contacting or slidingfaces of the sections 43, 48 are, of course, in a plane perpendicular tothe of pivot pin 49, and are preferably substantially parallel to theoutside lateral face of the section 48 to facilitate the collapsingaction to be described below.

Fixed in a recess in the section 48 is a thimble 50 having a band 51rotatably mounted upon its lower end, the inner wall of the thimble 50having a vertical groove 8 52 terminating at its lower end in lateralgroove 53. A pin 54 is rigidly mounted in. theband'51, the outer end ofsaid pin being adapted to engage the groove 46 (Fig. 10) and the innerend of the pin projecting through a slot 54 in the thimble 50 into thesocket thereof.

A tool'55 which may be a jack pin is providedwith a recess 56 in oneside ofits lower end, and has a pin 57 projecting from its side (Fig.13).

Mounted in an inclined recess in the section 43 is a detent 58 the frontend of which is preferably rounded, said detent being pressed outwardlyby a spring 59 so that the 9 detent may engage either one of two'keeperrecesses 60 in the inner face of section 48 (Fig. 10).

W hen the last is in the condition shown in Fig. 8 and by full linesin'Fig. 7, it is 1 adapted to be used to enable any of the ordinary shoeoperations to be performed upon it. As a whole, this last is permanentlyrigid against flexure. lVhen it is to beremoved from the shoe, such atool as indi- 1 cated-in Fig. 13 isinserte'd-in the thimble- 50, its pin57 sliding down the groove 52. At the same time, its recess 56engagesthe inner end of thelocking pin 54. Then, by

turning the tool, the pin 57 passes intothe extension 53 of the verticalgroove52 and the recess .56 of said tool acts upon the pin" 54 to rotateit and its carrying band-'51 until the outer end of the-, pin" 54 whichhasbeen engaged in the keeper section '46 reaches the. vertical recess45 so that the heel section 48 can .be swung up onits pivot'49 asby'means of forward pressure exerted against the tool 55 which isnowlockedin the thim ble 50'by reason of its pin 57 being engaged 12'0with the'lateral extension 53 of the groove in the thimble. Thisshiftingof the sec tion 48 is readily effected since the spring 59 isnot of suiiicient strength to cause the detent 58 to rigidly remain inthe upper recess 60. When the section 48 has been swung upto the dottedline position of Fig.

7 and to the full line position of Fig. 11, the lateral thickness of thelast at the heel has been diminished sufiiciently to enable the heel ofthe shoe to lengthen a little because it is not filled laterally.

Each construction provides for the displacement of a longitudinally andvertically extending slice of the heel. In one the lateral parts of theheel are arranged to collapse toward each other on vertical hinges aftera central slice has been displaced, and in the other the heel width isreduced by turning a section of the heel diagonally vertically in adirection which is substantially parallel to its outside lateralsurface. In both, the lateral thickness of the heel is diminished toallow the heel of the shoe to lengthen suificiently to enable the lastto be separated from the shoe.

Having now described my invention, 1 claim l. A last which ispermanently rigid against fiexure but has a laterally collapsible heelportion.

2. A last which is permanently rigid against fleXure but has adisplaceable slice at its heel, another heel portion being shiftablelaterally when the said heel slice has been displaced.

3. A last having a sole surface permanently unbendable throughoutsubstantially the entire length thereof to resist stress duringshoemaking operations and having a laterally collapsible heel portion topermit reduction of size to enable the last to be withdrawn from a shoe.

4. A last having a permanently rigid sole portion extendingsubstantially from toe to heel to resist stress during shoemakingoperations, the heel end of the last being reducible in width to loosenthe heel end of a shoe on the last.

5. A last comprising a wedge-shaped member at the heel, pivoted membersadapted to be held spread by said wedge member, and means for shiftingthe wedge member to and from spreading position.

6. A last comprising a forepart and having a wedge member slidablymounted relatively to the torepart, means for yieldingly holding saidwedge member rearwardly, and pivoted heel members at opposite sides ofthe wedge member adapted to be held spread by said wedge member.

7. A last comprising a forepart and having a wedge member slidablymounted relatively to the forepart, means for yieldingly holding saidwedge member rearwardly, and pivoted wing members at opposite sides ofthe wedge member adapted to be held spread by said wedge member, meansbeing provided for locking the wedge member in wing spreading position.

8. A last having a heel section formed rigid with the main body of thelast as regards vertical bending, and a second heel section constructedand arranged to move relatively to the first-named heel section tocollapse the last.

9. A last having a heel section formed rigid with the main body of thelast as regards vertical bending, and a second heel section constructedand arranged to move in a vertical plane relatively to the first-namedheel section to collapse the last.

10. A last which is permanently rigid throughout its length againstvertical flexure, but has a collapsible heel portion.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

AUGUSTINE FRANK LITTLEFIELD.

